Alabama

United Way medical program gets $30,000 grant

BALDWIN COUNTY, Alabama -- Some Baldwin County school children in need of dental care will be able to get relief thanks to grant money stemming from the BP PLC oil spill.

The United Way of Baldwin County’s United Medical Partnership for Children program received its second grant from Project Rebound to provide dental and medical care for local children directly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The new grant totals $30,000. In January, the United Way received $45,000.

The funds come from $12 million provided by BP and are disseminated by the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in partnership with the Alabama Department of Mental Health, according to Paige Rucker with Project Rebound.

As of Monday, the United Way’s first grant, awarded in January, had paid for medical and dental services for more than 60 Baldwin County public school children who lack health insurance or other resources to pay for health care, according to United Way of Baldwin County Executive Director Rebecca Byrne.

While basic medical and vision needs are also being met with the grants, she said the funding offers an opportunity for the agency to provide basic dental care for public school children throughout the county who have been unable to receive services in the past, Byrne said.

"There has been a direct correlation between the oil spill and the ability for many area families to provide preventative or immediate dental and medical care for their children," Byrne said. "The Project Rebound grant makes it possible to treat children before a minor issue, such as a tooth cavity, becomes a more costly and potentially dangerous health problem like an abscessed tooth."

Parents cannot contact health providers to request that their children be treated using the grant money, Byrne said. School nurses must identify, approve and refer the children to a dentist or doctor before the UMPC can pay for care.

"The school nurses are the ones who are doing the screening and they have their finger on the pulse as to which families would qualify," Byrne said.

The medical partnership has been in existence since 1992, according to Byrne. This grant has put more money in the UMPC’s coffers and the United Way wants to maximize its potential to help children, she said.

"This medical partnership ties in beautifully with what our mission is, which is changing lives forever. It’s been a good program," Byrne said.

Project Rebound, administered by the state mental health department, is a referral resource and also has mental health counselors who can help clients deal with the emotional impact of a disaster and then refer them to agencies which have received grants, according to Rucker. The program was created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was resurrected in July in the wake of the spill resulting from the April explosion of BP’s oil well, she said.

"This is strictly to help those who have been impacted by the oil spill. So it’ll last as long as the money will last," Rucker said. "We’re probably seeing the most severe need coming right now. We’re seeing some of the worst cases that our counselors have ever seen across the board and it’s because that now people are at their breaking point. We’re seeing domestic violence going up. We’re seeing a rise in substance abuse. We’re seeing indications of child abuse. And these are first-time occurrences with the majority of what we’re seeing, which indicates severe a stress on our community."

Last month, Project Rebound had 196 calls for help. This month, the program had received more than 600 calls as of Monday, she said. "And we’re seeing a rise in men calling, which means that it is getting pretty severe because men are the last ones that’ll call for help, which is an indication of distress," Rucker said.

Those seeking help can visit Project Rebound’s website at projectrebound.org or call 1-800-639-7326.

For more information about the United Way-BC’s medical partnership, visit www.unitedway-bc.org or call 251-943-2110.